Amazon Defense Front Keeps Up the Pressure in Texaco Case
30 November 2006
New English web site to focus attention on environmental case in Ecuador.
It has been almost 15 years since Texaco stopped pumping oil in Ecuador, but the Amazon Defense Front (FDA) continues its legal case against the company. Texaco has since merged into ChevronTexaco, but the FDA is still trying to hold the company responsible for over 18 billion gallons of polluted water discharged in the provinces of Orellana and Sucumbios.
The Amazon Defense Front is a member of the Assembly of Delegates of Communities Affected by Texaco, a group supported by Oxfam America since it was founded in 2001. A report released recently by the FDA states that “in the last two years, 45 judicial inquiries have been conducted in the area. Of these, 35 have been brought to court. The results of these inquiries confirm the presence of toxic compounds in the region’s water and soil.” This pollution is a serious threat to human health and the environment in general, said former FDA president Luis Yanza.
Judicial inquiries are on-site inspections by a judge of areas affected by pollution. The judge also takes testimony from people affected by the pollution.
The court accepted the plaintiffs’ request to cancel 64 additional inspections of pollution sites, on the grounds that the ecological damage has already been sufficiently proven. Texaco had nonetheless asked that all the inspections go forward, a tactic that could be seen as an attempt to delay judgment.
The Struggle Continues
The FDA is determined to struggle on despite many obstacles, particularly economic, in order “to complete a global study on the magnitude of the damage and the cost of reparations,” said Yanza. “This study will be undertaken by a technical team, but led by a director named by the court. Another aim is to keep the case before the public, in order to sustain and strengthen the unity of those affected,” he said.
The Assembly of Delegates continues to meet with and work actively on behalf of people affected by the contamination. The launch of the English web site is one part of this effort. Its purpose is to provide detailed information to the non-Spanish speaking public, especially in the United States, thereby raising consciousness and helping activists and other interested people to put pressure on the oil giant.
The new English web page (http://www.texacotoxico.org/eng/) contains photos, tables, graphs and descriptions of the contamination, which every day forces 30,000 Ecuadorians to drink, cook and bathe in polluted waters.
